This invention relates generally to product handling and has a particular but by no means exclusive relation to apparatus for transferring filled, cut-off pouches between the rotary knife of a pouch form, fill and seal machine and a cartoner where preselected count stacks of pouches are fed to the cartoner for subsequent cartoning.
In pouch machines of the known art, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,597,898 which is herewith incorporated herein by reference, a flat web of heat sealable material is continuously fed from upstream of the pouch machine to be longitudinally folded upon itself by a plow or similar device. In this form, the thus-folded web is fed about a sealer which contacts the folded web along vertical heated land areas to form transverse vertical seals and, thus, a series of open pouches along the web. In this way, the web of open pouches is passed around a filler wheel, filled with product and then sealed along the top edge of the web. The web of filled pouches then passes downstream to a motor-driven rotary knife apparatus which cuts the web along the transverse vertical seals into separate individual pouches for subsequent cartoning at a cartoner machine.
In a typical cartoning operation of the known art, conveyors are used to transfer individually cut pouches from the rotary knife to a cartoner machine. If the pouches are required to be stacked in preselected counts prior to being delivered to the cartoner, additional transfer conveyors and stacking apparatus must be operatively placed between the rotary knife and the cartoner machine to count, stack and move the pouches prior to cartoning.
Before the present invention was made, various transfer apparatus to facilitate transfer of pouches from a rotary knife to a cartoning machine have been disclosed. One such apparatus, disclosed in Hartman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,697, deposits individually cut pouches in shingled fashion from a rotary knife onto a moving product transfer conveyor. This moving train of shingled pouches is then further deposited into a chute where an operator manually counts, divides and inserts the pouches into boxes. An improved transfer apparatus is further disclosed in Scarpa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,993, wherein a transfer wheel with radially extending suction cups is positioned intermediate the rotary knife and the product transfer conveyor for picking cut pouches off the rotary knife and depositing the pouches in a series of spaced lanes on the product transfer conveyor for subsequent stacking and cartoning.
The known cartoner machines generally have a set operation whereby the product transfer conveyor delivering pouches to the cartoner must operate in a timed relationship with the cartoner for proper transfer of the pouches. However, it is not uncommon to reject or discard pouches at the rotary knife station because, for example, the pouches never received appropriate fill of product at the filler wheel, were mis-sealed or mis-cut. In transfer operations of the known art, the product transfer conveyor cannot be intermittently stopped to accommodate for the discarded pouches without simultaneously stopping the cartoner machine. Rather, adjustments must be made either at the stacker or cartoner to maintain the proper pouch count while at the same time stopping the transfer operation.
It will be appreciated that it is desirable to reduce the number of pouch transfer operations occurring between the rotary knife and the cartoner machine. In one respect, reducing the number of pouch transfers makes the overall cartoning operation more reliable. The fewer times a pouch is handled, the less chance there is for a malfunction or jam. In another, and equally important respect, floor space could be saved and economies could result by the reduction or elimination of transfer operations and apparatus currently required for the pouch transfer.
Accordingly, it has been a primary objective of the present invention to improve the transfer of cut pouches from the rotary knife station to the cartoner.
Another objective of the invention has been to provide an improved transfer apparatus for transferring individual product or pouches from a rotary feeding station to cartoner product buckets in preselected count stacks for subsequent discharge at a cartoner machine.
Another objective of the present invention has been to provide a transfer apparatus which can accommodate product or pouch flow variations without requiring stoppage of the downstream cartoner or upstream product feed.